The picture below is the
pioneer settlement of Thorpdale about 1889
after bushfires had
been through the town.
Note the massive Mountain
Ash in the foreground next to the trestle bridge. It has a very
striaght vertical trunk with no discernable tapering for the first
visible 20 metres. Unfortunately we have no height but it dwarfs the
considerable trestle bridge and roadway. Tall burnt trees are faintly
visible in the background. Click on the photos for larger images.
Assuming this tree was shorter than
the Thorpdale tree there must have
been some magnificent specimens in
this area. (image from National Library of Australia).
THESE ARE THE SHORT
ONES!
This is a very rare
photo. It was extremely hard to get photos of these massive trees in
their entirety as they simply didn't fit into the camera's
frame-especially in dense forest!. This is a picture taken of the
Lloyd homestead about Novemebr 1890 only about a kilometre from the
Thorpdale record breaking tree. Even these trees don't quite fit into
the photo and the Thorpdale tree was even taller than these ones!
Picture taken from an old Walkabout magazine from Walter Savige's
private collection. If you look carefully, Annie lloyd, Walter's aunt
is standing on the porch.
This tree stood 114.4 m (375 feet) in height. George Cornthwaite, a Government contract surveyor, described the tree which grew on the property of his brother, William Cornthwaite beside McDonald's Track.
“In 1884 I measured the tallest tree ever measured by a surveyor. It beat the highest American record by a few feet. It was at Thorpdale South in Moe district. It was near the top of the ridge forming the watershed between the Latrobe and Tarwin rivers, about 1100 ft. (335 m) above sea level. It was in the midst of a blackbutt forest, remarkable for the number of large trees to the acre. The tree itself was a blackbutt or mountain ash, and although it stood about two chains (40 m) from the edge of the clearing its head showed prominently above the skyline of the surrounding timbers.
After I had found it was not on higher ground than the nearby trees, I decided to measure it.
The angles were first read by the Abney level and afterwards checked with a theodolite, the height by both methods being recorded at 370 feet (113 m). When the tree was cut down the next year I measured the trunk on the ground. It was 375 feet (114.4 m), the extra height probably being caused by the spreading out of the branches when the tree struck the ground.
The tree was a perfect specimen of the eucalypt. The distance from the base to the first limb was 250 feet (76.25 m), and the girth of the trunk was nearly 9 feet (2.7 m). About ten years ago (1922) I measured the trunk of another tree from the same district. The top had been burned off, but the end of the main stem was nearly 5 feet (1.5 m) in girth. As the measurement from the base to this point was 294 feet (89.6 m) the original height of the tree must have been about 350 feet (106.75) "
"I am quite sure as to the measurement of the length. The tree was growing on allotment No. 1, parish of Narracan South, about 2 miles from Thorpdale, and was in a dense forest of tall trees, but this one was manifestly taller than the surrounding trees. The measurements were taken during the Christmas holidays of 1880. I measured the tree as it was standing by means of a
clinometer and chain, and made it 370 feet. Afterwards. when it was chopped down, I measured it - 375 feet, allowing for the stump. The tree was a Victorian Mountain Ash or 'Blackbutt', and where it was spring-boarded, about 12 feet from the ground, was about 6 feet in diameter. About 240 feet length of the barrel was worked up into palings &c, and all the material for a six-roomed house was obtained from it. My brother also worked a paling tree in the same locality afterwards, which was regarded as the champion paling tree of Gippsland. The palings were worth £100 at the stump . . . My brother had the stack of timber photographed. "
The site of the tree was
marked in 1976 by a
monument in the form of a granite cairn and plaque together with a tall
steel pole one tenth of the height of the tree (11.4 metres). You can
still visit the site today (see photos left). The above transcripts of
the letter kindly
provided by Walter Savige.
"We arrived at our new home at length and Mother met us at the door and I know had a steaming hot meat pudding ready for us. The house was not finished, no floor or ceiling but the rain could not come in, nor was our furniture up, we had to put up with makeshift beds and very little comfort for a while, until roads were fit for the bullock teams. We were all tired after our long trip and all the excitement and got to bed as soon as possible.
Next morning we had a better opportunity of seeing what the place was really like. Tall trees were all round, many 365 feet in height, sixty or more of these giants had to-be felled for the safety of the house, many were lying around quite close to the house. We children were soon running along them, playing trains. There was a lovely bank of tree ferns in front of our house, also sassafras trees, one being of great age with streams of moss hanging from its branches. There was a pretty little spring with tiny ferns all round it which had taken rise in a hollow caused by a large tree having been blown up by the roots. This spring was very useful to us for we had to depend on it for our water supply, for some time to come until a tank could be brought from Melbourne, eighty miles away and bad roads to consider. Before the trees were cleared away the rainfall was such that one tank was sufficient, although we used to catch water in large wooden barrels, too. "
". . . when those awful winds blew, than I did on my own, although I prayed earnestly as I knew how while lying in bed listening to the wind, that made a noise like thunder sometimes, and a big tree uprooted now and then. In spite of the terror with which these big trees filled my childish heart, they had a fascination for me and their eventual passing away caused me a
feeling of regret. They held their own for so long, braved the storms and were so majestic and then at last they had to succumb to the puny hand of man.
When the timber was cleared away somewhat, hills and valleys, hitherto hidden, were revealed, and, as more and more clearing was done, the district by degrees took on the appearance that makes Narracan, Mirboo, Childers and surrounding parts, so picturesque and interesting now. This was
not accomplished without a lot of hard work, a great many backaches and headaches, also a few heartaches I dare say. If some of the old pioneers could see it they would have a feeling of satisfaction that their efforts had been worthwhile."
